"It's tough to say I predicted it, but I knew Mercer could win," Dooley told USA TODAY Sports by phone on Friday afternoon. "They play 11-12 guys. They have incredible depth. Their offense gets everybody moving ... and when they're making their threes, that's hard to beat. This is a team that starts five seniors and going against a young Duke team, I think experience won out."

Dooley, who coached as an assistant under Bill Self at Kansas, knows the other side of a heartbreaking upset — experiencing Kansas' loss to Northern Iowa in the Sweet 16 in 2010 when the Jayhawks were the tournament's top overall seed.

"It's a miserable feeling, but this is what makes the tournament so fun to watch. It's what makes the tournament so spectacular," said Dooley, who watched the game with his family and coaching staff.

FGCU lost to Mercer in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship and bowed out in the first round of the NIT to end its season.

"Their win reaffirms how good our league is," Dooley said. "We've got programs poised to keep getting better and we keep putting ourselves on the map."

Scott Gleeson, a national college basketball writer/digital producer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.

THE BEST CINDERELLAS OF ALL-TIME

The day after two 5 seeds and a 6 seed were knocked out, No. 14 Mercer followed up those performances with a convincing 78-71 victory over No. 3 Duke right in its neck of the woods. Last year, it was Wichita State, La Salle and Florida Gulf Coast with the spine-tingling upset victories. To honor these darlings, USA TODAY Sports highlights the best Cinderellas of all-time. (Photo: Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports)

Florida Gulf Coast's 78-68 upset over No. 2 Georgetown sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball world a night after Harvard did the unthinkable by knocking off New Mexico. (Photo: Rob Carr, Getty Images)

Shaka Smart's 2011 VCU Rams shocked the NCAA world in their journey to the Final Four. In a matchup of mid-major schools, Butler got past the Rams to advance to the national title game. (Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)

George Mason's 2006 Final Four team had arguably one of the toughest roads through the tournament. The Patriots defeated No. 6 Michigan State, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 7 Wichita State and No. 1 UConn before losing to eventual champion, No. 3 Florida. (Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY Sports)

Loyola Marymount's 1990 Elite Eight team overcame the death of teammate Hank Gathers in the WCC tournament, going on to defeat New Mexico State, defending national champion Michigan and Alabama before losing to UNLV. (Photo: Bob Galbraith, AP)

Kansas' 1988 national championship squad was able to avenge three regular-season losses to Duke, Oklahoma and Kansas State in the tournament to win for the second time in school history. (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports)